The Latest SANDMAN Trailer Featured Mark Hamill's Character Mervyn Pumpkinhead
Over the weekend at Comic-Con, Netflix released a new trailer for Neil Gaiman’s upcoming series The Sandman. During the panel, Gaiman revealed that Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Batman: The Animated Series) will take on the role of Mervyn Pumpkinhead in the series.
In case you missed it, there was a quick shot in the trailer offering the first look at Hamill’s Mervyn Pumpkinhead, and I just wanted to point it out in case you missed it!
Mervyn Pumpkinhead is Dream's jaded, wise-cracking janitor. He resembles Jack Pumpkinhead of L. Frank Baum's Oz books. Mervyn is in charge of the construction, maintenance, and demolition work in the Dreaming, though he sometimes complains that his job is superfluous since Dream can change any of it at will.
This is a great character in the story and Hamill is going to be great in the role. I’m looking forward to hearing what kind of voice he came up with for the character.
When talking about the show, Gaiman said:
"For well over 30 years, my part in Sandman adaptations was just to try and stop bad ones from happening," Gaiman says. "And fortunately, I was always successful in this. We got to 2020 and Sandman was the biggest DC comics property that still had not been adapted — it was widely considered one of the jewels in the crown; it was the adult comic that changed everything. This adaptation is the first time that I've been willing to come on board. We've reached a point that really did not exist when the Sandman comics began. Longer format, novelistic television series now have the special effects and budgets to bring this world to life. Technologically, I really think we're in a place right now where we're getting to make Sandman in a way that we could not have dreamed of making even 15 years ago, even 10 years ago. So it's now possible to make Sandman, but not easy. It's really hard. But the resources are there, the people are there, the skill set is there, and the determination is there — and the fact that we now have an entire generation of high-level creative people who have grown up reading Sandman who love it and want to bring it to life with authenticity. The determination everywhere to make this and get it right has been absolutely a breath of fresh air. This is Sandman being made for people who love Sandman, by people who love Sandman, and that is so incredible for me. It's been so special. I feel like I'm on the cusp and I cannot wait until people see this show."
In the series: “There is another world that waits for all of us when we close our eyes and sleep — a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Tom Sturridge), gives shape to all of our deepest fears and fantasies. But when Dream is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for a century, his absence sets off a series of events that will change both the dreaming and waking worlds forever. To restore order, Dream must journey across different worlds and timelines to mend the mistakes he’s made during his vast existence, revisiting old friends and foes, and meeting new entities — both cosmic and human — along the way.”
The cast includes Tom Sturridge as Dream, Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) as Roderick Burgess, Boyd Holbrook (Narcos) as The Corinthian, Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio) as the voice of Matthew the Raven, Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Good Place) as Death, Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) as Johanna Constantine, Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck) as Ethel Cripps, Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne, and David Thewlis (the Harry Potter films) as John Dee.
The series is being developed and executive produced by Gaiman, showrunner Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman, Grey’s Anatomy), and David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Terminator: Dark Fate, Foundation).
The series will premiere on Netflix on August 5th, 2022.